This invention relates to new and useful apparatus for the maintenance of pavement: Highways, airfields, hard-stands, industrial areas, marshalling yards, institutional sites and generally the infrastructure of vehicle traveled load sustaining surfaces. The invention provides new structure for solving an old problem: Cracks in the surface of pavement which allow moisture to penetrate to the base and sub-base which are subjected to pumping and flushing actions causing the affected areas to fail and become unusable. Major repair or replacement are then the only solutions for salvaging the road.
In recent years the nonavailability of funds for infrastructure maintenance has resulted in the entire highway system being place in jeopardy as becoming useless, curtailing interstate and international commerce and having a negative effect on our nation's import-export efforts.
The highway infrastructure future depends, in part, on using new techniques, new equipment and new innovative thinking to increase the speed by which each unit of work is performed, decrease the unit of work cost, increase safety and decrease liability costs. Also by increasing the ambiance of the "on highway machines", the workers pride in his equipment and his association with a modern process will increase work force production.
Infrastructure maintenance is a big business in the U.S. Cutting any of the costs in the process comes out to large cost cuts and makes more money available for desperately needed highway maintenance.
The way to accomplish this goal is to use new methods and apparatus that reduces the cost and increases safety.
Present day methods of sealing road crack surfaces differs very little from the systems used sixty years ago. Generally, one man drives a truck that pulls a liquid oil dispensing rig that pumps the liquid through a conduit to a person on the ground following the rig who uses a handwand to place the oil in the cracks. Following is a dumptruck driven in reverse by the driver. The dumptruck is loaded with particulate material such as rockdust or sand. Often up to three men with shovels work along with this truck to service one oiler and place shovels of the material on the newly oiled cracks. This system under utilizes the manpower and results in a operation that performs work slowly and inefficiently and haphazardly.
It is an object of the invention to provide an integrated, controlled system which utilizes new apparatus which greatly increases speed, cuts costs, directs worker's energy to produce in a controlled work plan and provide a safe barricaded work area.